Up in the Air
by Mysteriol
Summary: A small moment between Kai and Tala on the flight back to Tokyo. And whoever said Kai isn't the sentimental sort is the strange one.


Up in the Air

A small moment between Kai and Tala on the flight back to Tokyo. And whoever said Kai isn't the sentimental sort is the strange one. postgREV, friendship.

Like I said, travelling so much lately inspires a little out of me.

thus this fic was born.

excuse the cheesy title. I couldn't think of another. similarity to that movie title is my bad.

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They were on the plane ride back to Tokyo, after having spent Christmas visiting the rest of the Blitzkrieg Boys in Moscow.

It was a long haul all the way back, but Kai having flown enough times in his life to and fro the two places he had come to call home for both, was accustomed to the rigours of travelling. He was resting comfortably in his seat by the window, perching his shoulder on the edge and watching the dark clouds outside pass by in restive peace. In his usual introspective mood, Kai turned slightly to his left, and the corner of his lips lifted in the hint of a smirk.

Apparently the same thing could not apply to his red headed friend though, who was in a most uncomfortable position in his seat, stretched out in a most eccentric manner, his head attempting to make full use of the bubble neck pillow for sleeping but to no use – but Tala was asleep anyway, albeit most discomforting to watch. He was slouched down in his seat, awkwardly snuggled beneath a lot of cashmere blankets (without a doubt stolen from his friend Kai when he thought his friend was not looking).

Kai resisted rolling his eyes.

A stewardess passed by and offered to serve drinks. Kai cast a sideway glance at Tala, who was still fast asleep, then went ahead and requested for a cup of tea for himself, and another cup of strong, black,sugarless coffee for his friend whom he knew would definitely need it when he awoke. Tala wasn't ever a morning person—ever. And caffeine was one of the better solutions to sustain the red head's bizzarre mood swings. It worked anyhow, most of the times.

Kai thanked the stewardess, set out both cups on his own tray, and took a sip from his cup.

Four and a half more hours to touching down in Tokyo. He rubbed his hands. It was going to be cold when they did. Not like anything could beat the cold they had in Moscow. He would have to acclimatize with the temperature again. He felt for Joe around his neck, and appreciately shot a furtive look towards his dozing friend whom he remembered clearly still as a fond birthday gift many, many years back.

Some memories don't change with time.

Tala shifted in his sleep, and let out a soft snore. He was whizzing slightly; his awkward position obvious to Kai.

Kai arched an eyebrow when Tala began to mumble some indiscernible strings of chatter in his dreams. He managed in time to prevent himself from choking on his tea in an almost chuckle. He had to remember this was a night plane, and it wasn't polite to disturb the peace of the other guests on board.

"Wolborg..." Tala shifted to his right now, his face fully turning towards Kai. His eyelids remained close in slumber. His lips moved in sleep.

Kai did not like watching his friend sleep – but this was too classic to be missed.

"Bryan, try not to kill Ian..." Tala mumbled.

Kai ran a hand through his hair. Unbelievable – even in sleep, the red head leader's mind never left his friends.

Tala moved, then flinched. In the process, the blankets fell to the ground.

"Boris--- Kai, get him away...get...him...urghhhh..." His red head friend began to curl into a foetus position, as Kai watched his face scrunched up with intensity, as if remembering some harsh memories from the abbey days.

Kai shot up from his seat, alert suddenly. He placed his cup back on the tray, and watched over his friend quietly. He hung around Tala long enough after the BBA Revolutions to know that even after all those years, that perverted bastard had done enough to his red head friend to continously haunt him in his dreams after that. Sometimes they were just normal nightmares, other times, Kai had woken up to Tala's incessant chattering about Boris, before watching the back of a heavily breathing Tala patter out of the room into the washroom to get a hold of himself before he headed for the edge of another mental breakdown.

Tala let out a muffled groan, and shifted again.

"Shit, Tala." Kai cursed under his breath. He scrambled out of his seat, abandoning all blankets draped on his knees, and bent his head over his friend to made sure everything was alright.

No asthmatic breathing, no perspiration, no sudden eye blinking—nothing out of place to signal his friend was getting another one of those attacks. _Breathe, Kai, breathe, he's fine. _Kai let out a long held breath, bent down to retrieve the blankets that had fallen, and draped them over his friend. Carefully though, he didn't want to awake his friend whom he knew had barely gotten a night of proper sleep back in the Blitzkrieg Boys' apartment with Ian and Bryan keeping him up all the time with all that video game and movie marathons.

Kai resisted chortling – sometimes memories with the Blitzkrieg Boys made him emotional in some strange, bizarre ways he couldn't decipher.

"...Thanks, Kai." Tala mumbled, pulled the blankets up to his chin. He snuggled furthur into them, apparently settling in more comfortable this time.

Kai didn't know if Tala was thanking him for the blankets, or thanking him in his dreams that probably Kai had gone to rescue his red head friend from Boris – but whichever, as long as Boris wasn't haunting Tala and doing some stupid threatening things in his friend's head, he could settle for anything.

"Hn."

Tala slid a sleepy eye open, "How long more?"

"Still a long way to go. Go back to sleep." Kai looked at his tray. "Unless you want some coffee. I surmise you would."

That got Tala's attention. Red head sat up a little, holding out a hand to accept the cup of coffee Kai held out to him. "Heh, thanks, Kai."

"Hn." He watched his friend looked appreciatively into his favorite kind of coffee – black, sugarless, just the way he liked it, inhaling and savoring the scent of caffeine after a long haul flight up in European air. "Feel better?"

His friend honestly still looked like shit – but then again, so did he. Kai believed he looked as if a train just ran through him right now, not like he could care less. There was only Tala here, anyway.

"'Course...Urgh, I feel like shit, Kai." Tala let out a yawn, and pushed the cup back to Kai, who placed it back onto his tray. He snuggled back into his blankets. "Wake me up when we're about there, okay?"

Kai rolled his eyes. As if he would leave his friend in here on an empty plane. What the hell.

"Just go to sleep, Tal." Kai let out a sigh, kicked off his shoes (he was feeling too cramped now), and emptied his cup of tea.

"I dreamt I kicked Boris in the ass, anyway. Heh, what a dream, huh."

Kai wondered silently if he had any part in that feat, too, but decided to keep quiet. If he responded, he knew he would never get his red head friend to stop talking once he started. And he knew Tala needed sleep.

There was a minute of silence as Tala settled back to bed. Kai checked the time – still a long way to go. He could probably pass it with another good movie, if there was one. He searched the screen with the remote for a while, flicked through several pages before he settled with an action-thriller flick. He pressed play, then sat back, removed Joe with extreme care from his neck before tucking it safely aside on his seat making himself more comfortable. (he found it strange it had been so many years, and he still kept that white scarf. And whoever said he wasn't the sentimental sort was the strange one.)

Beside him, Tala let out a soft snore. Kai prevented another smirk from reaching his lips. He really ought to stop doing that so often... sometimes he wondered if hanging out way too much with the Blitzkrieg Boys was making him softer. (Not like he cared, in all honesty.) His red head friend must had really been exhausted over the trip.

The blankets around the red head fell a little. Kai sighed – in the midst of the introduction of his movie (he hated being disturbed) – and bent over to tuck them over Tala (_seriously, _sometimes he felt like a brother figure too often lately).

"Stop causing the blankets to fall all the time." Kai said softly, but seriously. He turned his attention back to the movie.

A soft mumble, "Sorry, Kai..."

"Hn."

Four hours and fifteen minutes to go on the flight. It would be a long one.

Kai cast a brief glance outside the window.

He couldn't wait to touch down in Tokyo, freezing in minus degrees cold or not.

Beside him, Tala's soft snores reminded him he wasn't going back home alone, this time round.

**OWARI. **

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reviews are loved, as always.


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